Chapter 495 - Dragon Swallowing the Sun and Moon!

Leaving the Nine Hells behind, Yun Xiao, with Lian Xi by his side, ascended into the skies aboard his Sovereign Sword.

Perched upon the blade, Lian Xi's expression was unusual, marked by discomfort.

"What's bothering you?" Yun Xiao asked softly, his gaze fixed towards the Primordial Ruins.

"It's nothing..." Lian Xi shook her head.

"Is it the demonic and devilish aura around me that unsettles you?" he asked, his arm encircling her slender waist.

"Just a bit," she murmured quietly.

"I think it's more than

just

a bit,'" Yun Xiao observed.

"It's really nothing," Lian Xi looked up, insisting.

Though she claimed as much, Yun Xiao could feel her instinctive resistance against him, a reflex she herself could not control.

"Lil Xi." Yun Xiao's eyes glinted as he spoke earnestly into her ear, "Please believe, no matter how my appearance changes, what power I wield, or the company I keep... my heart will never change, nor will my feelings for you."

Lian Xi gazed at him, silently nodding.

"How strange, my treasure seems so melancholic today," Yun Xiao remarked playfully.

"Not at all," Lian Xi bit her lip, then, looking ahead, she said, "I was just wondering how we're going to possibly face that Heavenly Immortal? Since she commands the millions in the Primordial Ruins, her power on her own turf could multiply many times over. I'm sure she'll be far more powerful than the Three Immortals, reaching levels beyond our comprehension."

"Right." Yun Xiao nodded.

"Are we going to directly meet her in the Human Zenith Ruins?" Lian Xi asked.

"Of course not,” Yun Xiao shook his head, "that would surely be our demise."

"Then how are we going to draw her attention without involving the Nine Hells?" Lian Xi pondered aloud.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Yun Xiao looked ahead, his eyes deep with thought. "I plan to pay a visit to the Celestial Sourcecore again, see if we can stir up some trouble, make a bit of noise."

"Oh, good idea! Maybe we can see if there's a way we can contain the corruption too..." Lian Xi said.

"Do you still have the compass that controls the Primordial Ruins?" Yun Xiao asked.

"Right here." From within her robes, Lian Xi produced a compass, ancient and ornate, its center engraved with an image of a divine ark between heaven and earth, surrounded by a star map. "This is what the Mystic Earth Immortal used to merge the sun and earth too."

"Let me think on it," Yun Xiao said as he took the compass, his attention fully absorbed by this

helm

of the Primordial Ruins.

After a moment, Lian Xi asked, "Are you planning to steer the Primordial Ruins far enough from the Nine Hells?"

"That solution would treat the symptom, not the cause. No matter how far we flee, if the enemy intends to come to the Nine Hells, they'd merely be delayed," Yun Xiao replied, shaking his head.

"Then what..." Lian Xi started to say.

Holding the compass, Yun Xiao felt an insight as he gazed at the converging sun and moon growing closer in the sky. "You say the Celestial Sourcecore is a form of energy. How does it gather without dispersing? Could there be a shell that ensures its slow release and also allows it to be moved? And could that shell be man-made?"

Lian Xi thought for a moment. "I recall my master mentioning that the Celestial Sourcecore is enveloped by a formation, extremely intricate, and originating from the Celestial Court..."

"Even if it's from the Celestial Court, they would have taught mortals how to use it, right? Even if it's just superficial use. Otherwise, the Mystic Earth Immortal couldn't have aligned the sun and moon," Yun Xiao continued, his eyes lighting up. "It’s said that it took the Three Immortals over 100 years to align the sun and moon, to unleash the power of Heavenly Decay. What were they overcoming all those years?"

"Are you suggesting it was the formation of the Celestial Sourcecore?" Lian Xi suddenly realized.

"Exactly." Yun Xiao nodded, looking at the compass in his hand. "If this thing once controlled the alignment of the sun and moon, it might be related to that formation. Let's go try it out!"

"How should we try?" Lian Xi was still confused.

Yun Xiao's eyes burned with enthusiasm. "Formations, sigils, matrices, these

technical

things, no matter how complex, can't defeat me."

As the two spoke, they had already stealthily entered the Primordial Ruins.

Compared to the Nine Hells, the tens of millions of residents of the Primordial Ruins were more fervent. Even with the Three Immortals gone, they continued their desperate practice of the Ascension Technique in the streets as if possessed, chanting and shifting their worship from the Three Immortals to the Heavenly Immortals.

"The destruction of the Three Immortals has only made their faith stronger and purer."

This was troubling news.

"These True Immortals from the Celestial Court... why must they be so cruel? This world was once bustling and vibrant, a myriad of flowers blooming, yet they turned it into a veritable hell..." Lian Xi couldn't stand to watch, her eyes reddening.

She asked Yun Xiao with some anger, "Are all the True Immortals of the Great Dao Celestial Realm like this?"

"The world may well be a dyeing vat, where all kinds of people are mixed. Perhaps we're just unlucky. Don't be too pessimistic," Yun Xiao comforted her.

Though he was the comforter, after his conversation with the Nian, his heart was colder than Lian Xi's.

Together, they watched the human tragedy of the Primordial Ruins unfold through the thick mist, quietly reaching the blazing proximity of the Celestial Sourcecore. Waves of golden and silver heat assaulted them, making their bodies burn, their foreheads sweat, and their hair smoke—a truly unbearable ordeal.

The intense light engulfed everything before them.

With a solemn gaze, Yun Xiao crossed the void on his Sovereign Sword, both hands gripping the compass, staring intently at the Celestial Sourecore before him.

Lian Xi held her tongue, curious about how Yun Xiao would proceed.

Clad in white, the young man drew forth his Prison Warden Sigil with a flourish. It was a complex sigil with over 9,000,000 intricate Runes and many hundreds of thousands of smaller formations that formed a nine-headed dragon twining around his fingertips. Then, with a precise touch, he infused it into the compass.

Before their eyes, the power of the Life Sigil took command of the compass, dyeing it a deep violet.

During this transformation, the Primordial Compass visibly altered.

"Can your Life Sigil actually merge with an Immortal treasure?" Lian Xi asked in amazement.

Yun Xiao's eyes flickered with purple light as he explained, "This compass isn't just a magic treasure; it's the heart of a formation. The Primordial Ruins are driven by countless such formations, and the outer formation of the Celestial Sourcecore is part of it... This means, the compass is the key to the Primordial Ruins!"

His Prison Warden Sigil had five forms of transformation.

One form, known as Prison Ward, could merge with a magic treasure to enhance its power.

Another form, called Formation God, allowed control over all formations, manipulating their structure.

Since the compass was both a magic treasure and a formation core, Yun Xiao’s Life Sigil should be effective in both forms.

"Wow!" In Lian Xi's eyes, the compass trembled and morphed, emitting a beam of violet light that even reached towards the Celestial Sourcecore.

Yun Xiao’s eyes sparkled with excitement. "This compass is merely a basic key with limited access. The formation of the Celestial Sourecore is complex, and I'll need some time..."

As for a

higher-level key

, Yun Xiao suspected it was not here in the mortal realm. Since the Celestial Sourcecore originated from the Celestial Court, its ultimate secrets were likely held there.

Otherwise, if mortals were to control the higher-level key and deactivate the formation, wouldn't that potentially lead to the collapse of the Celestial Sourecore and catastrophic destruction?

Having a basic key was sufficient for initial control.

"Do you need time? It took the Three Immortals over 100 years to align the sun and moon. You..."

Lian Xi had just murmured this when Yun Xiao suddenly halted his actions, turning to her, "Lian Xi, leave me and hide somewhere in the Primordial Ruins."

"Why?" Lian Xi asked, visibly anxious.

"I think I might be able to stop the continuous release of the Heavenly Decay. Once the Celestial Sourecore changes, the Heavenly Immortal might sense it and come hunting. It will be easier to manage her on my own," Yun Xiao said earnestly.

"Can you really stop it?" Lian Xi was both surprised and thrilled, her expression animated with excitement.

"No problem! Trust me," Yun Xiao declared with confidence. He was now in the strongest state he had ever been, blending the powers of human, devil, and demon, ready to take a risk.

"But I..." Lian Xi, hearing of his intention to venture alone, was clearly anxious.

"It's okay, I'll find you once I'm safe," Yun Xiao reassured her, gently patting her head.

"Just be careful, I'm still waiting for your third..." Lian Xi started to say but abruptly stopped, almost biting her tongue.

"Third what?" Yun Xiao asked with a smile.

"Nothing! Just go on with it."

With those words, Lian Xi dashed away, hiding so effectively she was almost impossible to find.

Once she was gone, Yun Xiao looked towards the direction of the Human Zenith Ruins, took a deep breath, and braced himself.

"Let's start!" Grasping the compass, he charged towards the Celestial Sourcecore, his entire being engulfed in the blazing gold and silver flames.

Facing the formidable power of the Celestial Sourcecore, Yun Xiao finally reached it, sensing the existence of the encasing formation.

Amidst the radiant light, dense runes fluttered about like living creatures, countless in number, interweaving and overlapping, each segment performing a different function.

Together, they formed a spherical barrier of formations, completely enclosing the Celestial Sourcecore.

"There must be hundreds of millions of inscriptions. A true product of the Celestial Court, impressively complex." Yun Xiao's eyes blazed with both awe and a fired-up spirit of challenge.

Without another word, he pressed the compass against the surface of the Celestial Sourcecore formation.

BOOM!

The compass trembled at first, then its violet dragon patterns suddenly replicated and spread, sprawling across the entirety of the Celestial Sourcecore.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Like a dragon swallowing the sun, the Celestial Sourcecore vibrated violently, unleashing a massive storm of energy that shook the surroundings!

Had Yun Xiao not been prepared, he would have been blown away by the force.

"From this moment, that Heavenly Immortal should sense the disturbance here." Yun Xiao's gaze sharpened, his eyes even more intense.

Time was of the essence!

"To leverage this formation with just a basic key won't do; controlling the inscriptions isn't enough, I need my own power as the catalyst!"

With that thought, Yun Xiao began channeling the mixed force of human, devil, and demon within him into the compass.